Multi-stage modular road paving equipment and method of manufacture and sales

ABSTRACT

A multi-stage modular road building equipment system where a first stage base tractor is coupled to an intermediate stage, such as a spreading screw, and a third stage screed road paving tool attachment or other attachment such as a widener.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional application No.60/743,657 filed on Mar. 22, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to road paving equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the past, road paving equipment designers have endeavored to improvethe functionality of road pavers. Often, each new model of road pavingequipment is designed from the ground up. In other words, the entirestructure is often optimized for the particular type and model of pavingequipment. In other cases, it has been proposed to have a dual stageapproach where a base tractor is used and an assortment ofinterchangeable tool attachments is offered.

While these approaches of engineering paving equipment for a variety offunctions have been used in the past, they do have some drawbacks. Firstof all, the number of uniquely designed models of paving equipment thatcan be offered for sale and delivery within a reasonable time frame islimited by the cost of maintaining an inventory of the entire productline. Secondly, the number of available options in a dual stage systemwhich uses interchangeable tool attachments is limited.

Consequently, there exists a need for improved methods and systems formanufacturing and selling a variety of models of road building equipmentwith differing functions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and methodfor manufacturing and selling a variety of road building equipment in anefficient manner.

It is a feature of the present invention to utilize a multi-stagemodular manufacturing system.

It is an advantage of the present invention to reduce the cost ofmanufacturing and selling a variety of paving tools in an efficientmanner.

The present invention is an apparatus and method for manufacturing andselling a variety of paving equipment models having differingfunctionality, designed to satisfy the aforementioned needs, provide thepreviously stated objects, include the above-listed features, andachieve the already articulated advantages. The present invention iscarried out in an “excess work-in-process inventory-less” manner in asense that the need to build an entire unit of each model of roadbuilding equipment and keep them in stock in order to provide an abilityto deliver any one model in a timely manner, has been eliminated.

Accordingly, the present invention is a system and method including amulti-stage modular manufacturing system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be more fully understood by reading the followingdescription of the preferred embodiments of the invention, inconjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded block diagram view of a multi-stage model of roadpaving equipment having a base stage, an intermediate stage, and a firsttool stage, which is configured to mate with the intermediate stage.

FIG. 2 is an exploded block diagram view of a multi-stage model of roadpaving equipment having a base stage, an intermediate stage of FIG. 1,and a second tool stage which is configured to mate with theintermediate stage.

FIG. 3 is an exploded block diagram view of a dual-stage model of roadpaving equipment having the base stage of FIGS. 1 and 2, and third toolstage which is configured to mate with the base stage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Now referring to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like matterthroughout, and more specifically referring to FIG. 1, there is shown amulti-stage road paving equipment system, generally designated 100,including a base tractor stage 102, which can be any type of road pavingequipment which provides controls and motive forces to other roadbuilding equipment; i.e., a tractor somewhat similar to the tractorshown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/605,249 or other suitablesubstitutes. The base tractor stage 102 has a first stage-to-stagecoupler 101 disposed thereon. This first stage-to-stage coupler 101 cantake any form, such as welding, bolts, rivets, etc.; however, itspecifically excludes any connector which is configured for rapidlyattaching and detaching in the field.

The base tractor stage 102 is coupled via first stage-to-stage coupler101 and first stage-to-stage coupler 103 to intermediate stage 104.Intermediate stage 104 can be any type of structure which provides aroad paving function beyond merely physically connecting a tool to atractor. Intermediate stage 104 is shown as a spreading screw for hotmix asphalt distribution. Numerous types of HMA spreading screws couldbe employed as well.

Intermediate stage 104 is coupled to third stage screed road paving toolattachment 106 via second stage-to-stage coupler 105 and secondstage-to-stage coupler 107. Second stage-to-stage coupler 105 and secondstage-to-stage coupler 107 may be any type of coupler including acoupler which is configured for rapidly interchanging tool attachmentsin the field.

Now referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a road widener apparatusgenerally designated 200, which includes a base tractor stage 102,intermediate stage 104 and a third stage road widener paving toolattachment 206 coupled to the intermediate stage 104 via secondstage-to-stage coupler 105 and second stage-to-stage coupler 207. Secondstage-to-stage coupler 207 could be any type of coupler including onethat is configured for rapidly interchanging tool attachments in thefield.

Now referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a road paving HMA elevator typesystem generally designated 300, which includes a base tractor stage 102having a first stage-to-stage coupler 101 thereon. One of the keyaspects of the present invention is that prior art tool attachmentswhich have been proposed to fit on a single coupler on a tractor arelimited because of the nature of the coupler. The second stage swingingslat conveyor tool attachment 302 is coupled directly to the basetractor stage 102 via first stage-to-stage coupler 101 and firststage-to-stage coupler 303. Second stage swinging slat conveyor toolattachment 302 would not be able to be coupled to second stage-to-stagecoupler 105 as are the tool attachments third stage screed road pavingtool attachment 106 and third stage road widener paving tool attachment206.

The method of the present invention could be performed as follows:

Step 1. Manufacture a base tractor stage 102 with a first stage-to-stagecoupler 101 thereon.

Step 2. Manufacture an intermediate stage 104 with a secondstage-to-stage coupler 105 thereon.

Step 3. Manufacture a third stage screed road paving tool attachment106, a third stage road widener paving tool attachment 206 and a secondstage swinging slat conveyor tool attachment 302.

Step 4. Maintain these products in inventory in close proximity to afinal assembly area.

Step 5. Receive an inquiry about a first particular model of road pavingequipment.

Step 6. Assemble the first particular model of road paving equipmentusing the base tractor stage 102 and one of the attachments manufacturedin Step 3.

The step of assembly will include a step of attaching a structure to thebase tractor stage 102 in such a manner that it is not configured forrapid detachment and reattachment in the field.

Step 7. Replenish the inventory with products which were used to buildthe first particular paving equipment.

It is thought that the method and apparatus of the present inventionwill be understood from the foregoing description and that it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construct steps,and arrangement of the parts and steps thereof, without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of theirmaterial advantages. The form herein described is merely a preferredexemplary embodiment thereof.

1. A multi-stage road paving equipment system comprising: a base tractorfirst stage for providing basic controls and motive forces and a firststage-to-stage coupling; an intermediate stage, configured to mate withthe first stage-to-stage coupling and further configured with a secondstage-to-stage coupling; the intermediate stage is additionallyconfigured to transport hot mix asphalt beyond merely providing a secondstage-to-stage coupling; a first of a plurality of third stage roadpaving tool attachments configured to mate with the secondstage-to-stage coupling, where each of the plurality of third stage toolattachment provides a differing function and where each of the pluralityof third stage road paving tool attachments is not configured to bedirectly mated to the first stage-to-stage coupling.
 2. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the intermediate stage comprises a spreading screw forhot mix asphalt; and the first of a plurality of third stage road pavingtool attachments comprises a screed attachment.
 3. The system of claim 1wherein the first of a plurality of third stage road paving toolattachments comprises a road widener.
 4. The system of claim 1 whereinthe intermediate stage is coupled to the base tractor first stage viathe first stage-to-stage coupler which is configured not to be readilydecoupled and recoupled in the field.
 5. The system of claim 4 whereinthe second stage-to-stage coupler is configured to be readily decoupledand recoupled in the field.
 6. The system of claim 5 wherein the firstof a plurality of third stage road paving tool attachments comprises ascreed attachment.
 7. The system of claim 5 wherein the first of aplurality of third stage road paving tool attachments comprises a roadwidener attachment.
 8. A multi-stage modular road building equipmentsystem comprising: a base tractor; a plurality of remote attachmentswhich are configured to be readily attached to and detached from thebase tractor via a common intermediate stage; and a plurality of directattachments which are configured to be directly attached to the basetractor.
 9. The system of claim 8 wherein the intermediate stage and thedirect attachments are not configured to be readily detachable andre-attachable in the field.
 10. The system of claim 8 wherein theplurality of remote attachments comprise a screed and a road widener.11. The system of claim 8 wherein the plurality of direct attachmentscomprise a blind mateable road widener.
 12. A method of fulfillingcustomer orders for a variety of road paving equipment comprising thesteps of: manufacturing and storing in inventory a base road pavingtractor which is configured to provide controls and motive forces; thetractor configured with a first stage-to-stage coupler; manufacturingand storing in inventory an intermediate stage member which isconfigured to mate with the first stage-to-stage coupler where theintermediate stage is configured to provide functionality beyond merelycoupling between the base road paving tractor and a tool attachment;manufacturing and storing in inventory a plurality of differentlyfunctioning road paving tool attachments, each of which is configuredfor coupling via a second stage-to-stage coupler to the intermediatestage member; receiving a request for a first predetermined model ofroad building equipment; assembling a unit of the first predeterminedmodel of road building equipment using, from an inventory, the firststage base tractor, the intermediate stage member and a first of theplurality of differently functioning road paving tool attachments, whereattachment between the first stage base tractor and the intermediatestage member is configured so as not to be readily detachable andre-attachable in the field; and replenishing an inventory with itemswhich were used to assemble the unit of the first predetermined model ofroad building equipment; receiving a request for a second predeterminedmodel of road building equipment which performs a different functionthan the first predetermined model of road building equipment;assembling a unit of the second predetermined model of road buildingequipment using, from an inventory, the first stage base tractor, theintermediate stage member and a second of the plurality of differentlyfunctioning road paving tool attachments, where attachment between thefirst stage base tractor and the intermediate stage member is configuredso as not to be readily detachable and re-attachable in the field; andreplenishing an inventory with items which were used to assemble theunit of the second predetermined model of road building equipment.